602423 Mon Mar 09 15:00:32 -0700 2009 14 36 Spirits 0 4488496 Any good cocktail suggestions with Swedish Punsch? I'm kinda going crazy over Waldorfs right now, but would like to try a couple new ones. Also made a couple Bohannons (from Deep Ellum's Casey Keenan). Mon Mar 09 15:00:32 -0700 2009 261382 mrgrotto 1 4488951 Where are you finding Swedish Punsch in the Boston area? Or did you make your own? I developed a cocktail with Batavia Arrack, loosely based on a reinterpretation of the punsch recipe on the bottle (which I picked up at Brix): Dread Swede -- 2 oz Batavia Arrack 3/4 oz Pimento Dram 1/2 oz fresh lemon juice 1/2 oz Maraschino liqueur Shake, strain, etc. Mon Mar 09 17:08:48 -0700 2009 4488496 65478 davis_sq_pro 2 4489073 Made my own. Max Toste from Deep Ellum's recipe was in Imbibe an issue ago. Batavia Arrack, cardamom, nutmeg, simple syrup and lemon juice. Dread Swede sounds pretty dang tasty. Are you using the St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram? Or are you making it yourself? Mon Mar 09 17:50:21 -0700 2009 4488951 261382 mrgrotto 3 4489133 My own for now; I made about two liters following the recipe below just before they released the St. Elizabeth stuff -- I've been trying hard to work my way through it to justify buying a bottle... Soon... (said with a bit of a slur) http://www.cocktailchronicles.com/2005/10/30/adventures-in-kitchen-mixology-pimento-dram/ Mon Mar 09 18:12:29 -0700 2009 4489073 65478 davis_sq_pro 2 4499659 I tried a version of this w/ Rhum Agricole subbed for the Batavia (which I don't have), St. James Ambre, and lime instead of lemon. Honestly, i didn't love it. Thu Mar 12 17:52:16 -0700 2009 4488951 243219 craigasaurus 3 4504670 Not saying that you should or should not love my drink--taste is certainly a very personal thing--but what tried is totally different. The drink has a relatively large amount of Marachino, I find nicely tempers the Batavia Arrack flavor (somewhat smoky with an almost sour note--and far afield from the Agricoles I've tried to date). So I'm sorry to hear that you wasted some of your rum with this modified version, but you might want to play with it again if you get your hands on some Arrack. I suspect that your drink was heavily overwhelmed by the Maraschino? Sat Mar 14 12:33:53 -0700 2009 4499659 65478 davis_sq_pro 2 4563137 Where can you find batavia arrack in the boston area? Thu Apr 02 20:16:30 -0700 2009 4488951 111910 jgg13 3 4565255 Oh! I'd love to tell you but every time I do something like that, the ChowPolice reprimand me for self-promoting. The name of the distributor is Ideal and I'm pretty sure they sell by the bottle so any liquor store should be willing to special order you some. Fri Apr 03 13:16:20 -0700 2009 4563137 261382 mrgrotto 4 4565315 Well, I'm 99.9% sure that I know which store you're at, so presumably if you're getting dinged by the Po-Po for saying that part then I already know the answer ;) If that's not the case, I'll just pester people to see if they can order for me. Danke BTW, speaking of that hypothetical liquor store I saw the last time that I was in that the Bitter Truth lineup was there. Between that & the Boston Shaker stocking them, I'm *so* glad I had them shipped in from germany just a few months ago :) Fri Apr 03 13:28:53 -0700 2009 4565255 111910 jgg13 5 4565490 Ha! I was totally freaking about the Bitter Truth order getting nabbed by Customs! At the... ahem... hypothetical liquor store. Fri Apr 03 14:20:49 -0700 2009 4565315 261382 mrgrotto 6 4565668 Straying further and further OT, but when BT shipped to me, the customs label was filled out as being "flavor concentrates". Technically true, and likely to keep the federales at bay I figure :) Straying a little less OT, how does one pronounce "batavia arack" anyways, one of those things I've only ever seen in print. I've been saying it "bah-tay-vee-yah ah-rack" Fri Apr 03 15:16:44 -0700 2009 4565490 111910 jgg13 7 4565705 Well, technically, since bitters of this sort aren't potable, it's perfectly legal to ship them to MA, but try to explain that to your mail carrier and her/his bosses. That being said, BT were careful enough to suggest not putting the name of the hypothetical store on the label which could arouse suspicion. I agreed wholeheartedly and was more than a bit relieved when the packages arrived unfettered. Regarding the arrack (note the extra letters compared to the Middle Eastern "arak"), that's how I pronounce it as well, but I'm sure we'll both be corrected at some point. Let me know if you get it first. Fri Apr 03 15:29:37 -0700 2009 4565668 261382 mrgrotto 8 4577859 BTW, that does seem to be how you say it - at least that's how they were saying it this weekend at ESK and I figure if they're getting it wrong then it's okay for me to get it wrong too ;) I popped in the hypothetical liquor store the other night and located it - i wasn't really in a position to purchase it at the time (was in the middle of bar hopping and didn't want to lug a bottle of booze with me) but now I know where to look :) Now, if the hypothetical store also carried falernum, i'd be a happy man :) Wed Apr 08 07:31:36 -0700 2009 4565705 111910 jgg13 1 4577847 The Hesitation at Deep Ellum was pretty good to my tastebuds - equal parts Swedish Punsch & Rye. Wed Apr 08 07:29:51 -0700 2009 4488496 111910 jgg13 2 4585711 Ha! I literally just had that two nights ago. Figures... Fri Apr 10 16:34:27 -0700 2009 4577847 261382 mrgrotto